Chilling pics reveal misery of child migrant detention camps in the US as officials refuse to say what became of crying girl who became the face of the crisis

Almost 2,000 children have been separated from their parents at border crossings since April

By Emma Parry and Felix Allen

19th June 2018, 12:18 pm

Updated: 20th June 2018, 2:01 pm

CHILLING pictures reveal the miserable conditions endured by nearly 2,000 kids who have been separated from their parents and put in detention camps under America's "zero-tolerance" immigration policy.

Aerial photos of one facility in Tornillo, Texas, show youngsters being marched between rows of austere tents pitched behind barbed wire in the desert near the Mexican border.

Almost 2,000 children have been separated from their parents and are being held in camps near the Mexican border

The mum and daughter were then bundled into a van and taken to an unknown location.

When Sun Online asked where the youngster was taken - and if she was separated from her mother - a spokesman for the US Customs and Border Protection agency said: "I do not have information regarding the young girl".

Photographer John Moore, who took the photograph, earlier told CNN he managed to talk to the mother, who revealed she had been travelling for over a month to arrive at the US border.

He said: “She was told to set the child down, while she was searched. The little girl immediately started crying.

Pictures of children at the border have sparked a national outcry in America over the treatment of illegal immigrant families

Chandler said in some cases agents simply tell the parents that they are taking their children away.

“And when the parent asks, ‘When will we get them back?’ they say, ‘We can't tell you that’,” she said.

While the claims have not been verified, images have emerged from inside the largest Border Patrol processing station in the US, located in McAllen, Texas - near to where the little Honduran girl was apprehended.

Hundreds of children are kept in large metal cages inside the old warehouse - one cage had 20 children inside.

Children were seen lying on dark green mats with large foil sheets intended to serve as blankets - while water bottles and bags of crisps are scattered about.

Her spokesman added: "She believes we need to be a country that follows all laws, but also a country that governs with heart."

Michelle Obama and Hillary Clinton also slammed the Trump administration, while Jimmy Carter's wife Rosalyn called the policy "disgraceful and a shame to our country".

George W Bush's wife Laura said: "I live in a border state. I appreciate the need to enforce and protect our international boundaries, but this zero-tolerance policy is cruel. It is immoral. And it breaks my heart."

VOLCAN-WOAH!

MUM'S AGONY

On Monday the US Department of Homeland Security said they were not prosecuting families arriving at ports of entry or attempting to enter the country legally.

But it added: "When adults, with or without children, unlawfully enter this country, there must be a consequence for breaking our laws."

The department confirmed a total of 1,995 children were separated from adults claiming to be their guardians between April 19 and May 31.

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